Rule #14: Everyone is Guessing

Wisdom has terrible timing. 

We want it there all of the time. Wouldn’t it be great if we had access to it when we made decisions? How cool would that be if, every time we’re faced with a problem, wisdom showed up and the problem is just magically solved? 

Starting a business doesn’t work that way though. Often, wisdom shows up with experience, after decisions have already been made. 

Great, perfect. Wisdom? I needed you yesterday. 

When we start, our knowledge of how a business should be built and run is at an all time low. Sure, we have assumptions; we see how things will go in our mind’s eye but, at some point, those ideas are met with challenges. Let’s back up a bit though. 

The first things that we do when starting up are those administrative tasks. Because these things are relatively simple and because they’re either things we’ve already been thinking about or we can read and follow instructions; like coming up with a name, filing the DBA’s and fictitious business names, and registering domain names. Perhaps we even get started on a website. And these things get knocked out pretty quickly, so we’re on a roll. 

But then, the next wave of issues comes; the things that we’re not told how to do by instructions on a website. Things like which contractor to hire, how much to charge, which logo to go with. And suddenly, things start to become a little more murky. 

Next, other realities hit and the decisions get harder. And things can be things like finding out that you just can’t call up a factory and ask them to make a product — they’re likely evaluating you more than you’re evaluating them. Hiring photographers for product; we’re asked about color palettes and overall vision. And then we find out that we won’t actually own the images, that we’ll be able to use them for certain things, but not for others. 

The list of possibilities is long and many of these things we can’t even conceive of when we start. And our ability to answer them? We might as well be asked how to open a pack of chewing gum when you’re out for an evening stroll on Mars.

But there are thousands of other companies that have navigated these waters successfully. And mentally, we start comparing, and that never ends well. Surely these other founders have a savvy, a wisdom that we don’t have. And the idea starts circling in our minds: maybe I’m just not cut out for this? 

There’s good news: this is completely normal and ultimately, everyone is guessing. 

Think about it like this. If you were asked to file a DBA after you’d already done one or two? How easy would that be compared to the first time you did it? It’s like that with everything, things are hard the first time we do something. But, the more experience we get, the better we are at addressing issues. And believe me when I say that every single founder has dealt with issues. You’re not dumb, you’re just in unfamiliar waters. 

Let’s look at the almighty Steve Jobs for example. He dealt with questions like how to convince people to believe in him while being a long-haired college dropout; how much should Apple charge for the world’s first ready-to-use home computer; how the heck can the company afford to buy the components to fulfill their first major order.

Suffice to say that there were a lot of questions that Apple needed to answer. And, at the end of the day, Jobs felt that persistence was the only way to navigate through them — a lot of thinking, a lot of guessing, and keep moving.  

You think you don’t have all of the answers? You’re in good company because in the end, everyone is guessing.

Keep grinding.